The present invention relates generally to barbeque grills for cooking meats and other foods. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved barbeque grill which is provided with a smoke exhaust vent system that is retractable or collapsible.
Outdoor barbeque grills have become very popular for outdoor cooking and are particularly enjoyed by friends and families at personal and social events. As is well known to one skilled in the art, barbeque grills utilize different types of heating means for cooking meats and other foods. A conventional and well-known type of barbeque grill utilizes combustible charcoal briquettes (or wood chips and/or wood pellets) which must be replenished with each use of the grill for cooking. More recently, barbeque grills utilizing propane gas and electric heating elements have become very popular and displaced many conventional grills which use combustible charcoal briquettes.
The propane gas and electric barbeque grills act to heat permanent cement briquettes or lava rock so that greases from the food being cooked will fall thereon and be vaporized in order to create a smoke environment for the food being cooked and impart additional smokey aroma and flavor thereto similar to the flavor imparted to food being cooked with conventional combustible briquettes on a barbeque grill. Thus, the propane gas and electrically heated barbeque grills provide a measure of convenience which is not obtainable with conventional combustible briquette heated barbeque grills. Yet, the more convenient and popular propane gas and electrically heated barbeque grills provide substantially the same measure of tasty, smokey flavor which outdoor cooks obtain from old-fashioned, conventional barbeque grills.
Regardless of the type of barbeque grill utilized for outdoor cooking, it is well known that grease droppings from meat being cooked in a grill fall onto a component such as a steel drip pan, combustible charcoal briquettes, wood chips, wood pellets, permanent cement briquettes, or lava rock. The grease droppings are vaporized and create smoke within the grill. It is common therefore for grills to use some type of a smoke exhaust vent in order to vent the smoke created in the grill. While smoke vent designs have been found to be visually pleasing as well as functional it was found that the permanent smoke vent arrangement created a problem when trying to store or transport the barbeque grill.
The quest has therefore continued for a barbeque grill which is more compact and transportable, but yet still fully functional and easy to use.
In accordance with the present invention, an improved barbeque grill is provided which solves the problems associated with prior art grill designs and provides a barbeque grill which can be compact and easily transportable. The grill contains a smoke exhaust vent system that is retractable or collapsible in order to allow the oven or grill to take up the least amount of space when being stored or transported.
The improved barbeque grill of the present invention in a preferred embodiment comprises a lower housing, heating means for providing cooking heat located within the lower housing, food supporting means positioned within the lower housing and above the heating means, and an upper housing or hood adapted to enclose the lower housing. The upper and/or lower housing includes a smoke exhaust arrangement for allowing smoke to escape from within the barbeque grill, wherein the smoke exhaust arrangement is retractable or collapsible in order to allow the oven or grill to take up the least amount of space when being stored or transported.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a barbeque grill which can be compact and easily transportable.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a barbeque grill that enables a user to lower conventional smoke exhaust stacks into the lid when not in use in order to save space during storage or transport.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a barbeque grill with a retractable or collapsible vent system that allows the vent disengagement and movement to be made simple and xe2x80x9cby handxe2x80x9d with no tools needed, and the engagement to be positive yet forgiving, requiring no critical or precise alignment procedures or components.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a barbeque grill with a retractable or collapsible vent system in which the visual appearance and mechanical stability and sturdiness of the stacks in the xe2x80x9cupxe2x80x9d position are comparable to conventional fixed-mount stack systems.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a barbeque grill with hardware or mechanisms for engagement/disengagement of the retractable/collapsible vent stacks that are visually unobtrusive.
Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will become evident as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings described below.